DREHER TWP. - Bertrand Schroeder admitted it was a "stupid thing" to do: spend Saturday drinking "most" of a case of beer and then "messing" with his rifles.

An errant shot fired accidently as he tried to unload one of the two weapons, the 59-year-old man told state police, unfortunately hit his wife, Donnalynn, 51, in her neck - a wound that ultimately killed her. Mr. Schroeder now faces criminal homicide charges.

When the first trooper arrived at 143 Haags Lane at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, emergency medical personnel were already treating Mrs. Schroeder for the gunshot wound to her neck and she was soon flown by helicopter to Geisinger Community Medical Center. She would die there during surgery hours later.

Along with Mr. Schroeder's two rifles, troopers found 50 beagles inside the home amid conditions "deplorable for both human and animal welfare," according to the complaint. The dogs were later taken to the Dessin Animal Shelter in Honesdale.

In an interview with state police that morning, Mr. Schroeder said his wife brought him a case of beer at about 11 a.m. Saturday and he spent the day drinking "most" of it until she got home at about 9:30 p.m., according to the complaint.

About a month earlier, he said, his wife gave him $500 to purchase the two rifles in the home from "a guy over in Moscow" to deal with some rabid raccoons on the property that had caused them concern for their dogs, according to the complaint.

At that point, Mr. Schroeder mentioned that he knew it was illegal for him to have the guns as he had an aggravated assault conviction in New Jersey, according to the complaint.

Troopers then arrested him for possessing the rifles and took him to the state police barracks in Honesdale.

During a subsequent interview there, Mr. Schroeder reiterated that he did not mean to shoot his wife, that he "did a stupid thing by getting drunk and then messing with a rifle," according to the complaint.

At 6:50 a.m. that morning, Mrs. Schroeder died from the gunshot wound at the hospital.

She was remembered by neighbors and co-workers as a woman who was giving and kind.

Bob Baginski, manager at the Dutch's Market where she worked in Greentown, trained Mrs. Schroeder and worked with her for almost four years. He said there wasn't a dry eye in the deli where she worked when her co-workers heard of her death, but they were banding together to get through the tragedy.

"She was a nice lady. She always worked hard," Mr. Baginski said.

Faced with the news of his wife's death, Mr. Schroeder again answered troopers' questions, providing more detail in his account.

He and his wife were alone in the home. He was sitting on a chair in the bedroom trying to clear a jam in one of his rifles. Mrs. Schroeder was sitting on the toilet in the adjacent bathroom.

When the gun fired, Mr. Schroeder's finger was on the gun's trigger and it was pointed at his wife, according to the complaint.

They had had arguments in the past, Mr. Schroeder said, some of which turned physical and one that resulted in his pointing a gun at her, according to the complaint.

They had actually argued earlier in the day Saturday, hours before what Mr. Schroeder characterized to state police on several occasions as his wife's accidental shooting, according to the complaint.

After the bullet hit Mrs. Schroeder in the neck, Mr. Schroeder did not use his cellphone to call for help, according to the complaint.

Instead, he "left the residence to summon assistance." He did not use the phone because it "only had a few minutes left on it," according to the complaint.

Neighbor David Darcy answered a rap on his door early Sunday morning to a "distraught" Mr. Schroeder.

"He knocked on my door and he was like, 'Call the police I just shot my wife'," Mr. Darcy recalled. "I think it was too much beer, too much time on your hands and a loaded gun."

Ultimately, state police charged Mr. Schroeder with criminal homicide, persons not to possess firearms and fifty counts of cruelty to animals.

He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Theodore J. Mikulak on Sunday and was remanded to the Wayne County Prison without bail.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 19.

Contact the writer: domalley@timesshamrock.com @domalleytt on Twitter

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